How would you go about doing it? I see a couple tiny pieces of RTV and some gunk in there. I figure it's probably alright but...would suck to put a newly rebuilt engine in and get some crap stuck somewhere in it from something as easy and simple as that screen. Just a brush? Or flush water through it? Or what? Thanks

 

Unbolt it and flush it in a solvent tank or use some Castrol Purple solvent. I used a brush and a pick to get all the little stuff out of the screen.

 

Hey! Thanks.

It's been back in the engine for about a week now. I had a machine shop use their washer, then I used a pin to get out any chunks still stuck. So far so good!

 

Good to hear. Did you get the motor fired up yet? That's always a scary feeling

 

Yes I did. It was scary. After all that time working on stuff, I almost didn't want to..but there was nothing left to do but turn the key!
I had to chase a few coolant leaks, mostly loose hose clamps, and one oil leak. The oil leak is from the oil pan, so when I do my first oil change I'll redo that. Otherwise it's great!

 

Mine white smoked like crazy for 20 minutes. I was almost certain I didn't get the HG on correctly or the head torqued right. It finally stopped smoking after 20 minutes. I'm guessing there was a ton of coolant residue on the inside of the exhaust (previous owner blew up the motor and I got the truck for cheap) and it was just burning out when the exhaust was getting hot.

Glad it's running good!

 

Thanks! Yeah, mine smoked a bit at first too. Some was coming out of the exhaust manifold, too, but I later realized I was missing a bolt there, so that makes sense. I adjusted the valves and had a shop do the timing, mostly because I didn't feel like buying a timing light and wanted someone to look it over. It's running great now!